Astronomy and Cosmology

Author(s): L C Jain
Publisher: Rajasthan Prakrit Bharti Sansthan Jaipur

Page 25

being the interval in which an ultimate particle crosses another ultimate particle or else is able to cross all space-points situated in a stretch of fourteen rajjus.
Rajju is a familiar historical word from Egyptian rope-stretchers. Through it are measured the distances between the ends of the immense universe (loka), the cardinal number of space-points of which is innumerate, as also of those of a fully stretched soul, of the aether and of the anti-aether as well as of the time-particles.
Out of all these fluents, only the matter (pudgala ) has been endowed with five types of taste, five types of adour, five types of colours, and eight types of touch. The ultimate particle, has however, only one taste, one odour, one colour, two types of touch (either cold or hot, and either smooth or rough). Smoothness or roughness has been associated with levels from zero to infinity, corresponding well with positive and negative types of charges in so far as their story of bonds is concerned in Jaina literature. One may call the touch to be of affine and anti-affine types, again corresponding with love and malice of a bios, or affinity and anti-affinity, causing karmic (action) bonds between a bios and ultimateparticles. 19 Thus pudgala is material, other fluents being abstract. Motion is defined for the bios and matter alone, the other fluents being stationary, ākāśa being an accommodator, kāla being a modifier, dharma being motioncooperator, and adharma being rest-cooperator. Consciousness is accorded to the bios alone.20
Common properties or controls of all the fluents are interesting :
i) Astitva (existence): signifying it as eternal and indestructible ii) Vastutva (objectivity): signifying it as having some norm of
action. iii) Dravyatva (fluence) : signifying it as being, flowing through
its own controls and events, Prameyatva (measurability ) : signifying that it could be the subject of knowledge.
19.
Cf. P. A., vv. 127-134. A fluent (dravya) is that which flows through its own controls (gunas) and events (paryāyas). Each is endowed with regeneration, degeneration and immutability (utpāda, vyaya evam dhrauvya). These describe the special properties or controls (guņas) of the six fluents.
20.